10 Cool Mustangs for the Pony Car's Anniversary

America's beloved original pony car, the Mustang, turns 50 this year. We dropped by the west coast 50th celebration in Las Vegas to check out all the historic muscle cars. Here are ten of the coolest 'Stangs we ran across this weekend.

1962 Ford Mustang I Concept

1962 Ford Mustang I Concept

It's difficult to see much of what became the first production Mustang when you look at this slinky two-seater. But this is certainly one of the prettiest cars to ever wear the Mustang name. Under that sleek skin, the Mustang I was radical. It was built as a fully drivable, lightweight sports racing prototype with space frame construction and a tiny V-4 engine driving the rear wheels. It was likely the aggressive racing focus of the original Mustang concept that inspired Ford's truly incredible performance models that came later in the 1960s.

1968 Ford Mustang EXP 500 "Green Hornet"

1968 Ford Mustang EXP 500 "Green Hornet"

The EXP 500 began as a car called Lil Red that Ford used as a basis for what could have been a 50-state version of the California Special Mustangs. When the project was shelved, Carroll Shelby got hold of the car (now sprayed green) and experimented with many performance parts. He replaced the 390 V-8 with a 428-cid (cubic-inch displacement) big block and topped it with a fuel-injection system. To enhance handling, out came the solid-axle rear suspension, replaced by an independent setup with rear disc brakes. This monster would do a claimed 5.7-second run from 0 to 60 mph and probably handle better than any big-block Mustang of the day. Too bad all these specs together never gelled into a production Shelby or Ford model.